Marcus Aemilius Lepidus

Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (88 BC-12 BC) was a Roman general who was a member of the Second Triumvirate alongside Octavian and Mark Antony. Lepidus was the weakest member of the Triumvirate.

Biography
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus was born in Rome in the Roman Republic, and he married the sister of Marcus Junius Brutus, Junia Secunda. In 49 BC he was made Praetor of the Republic, and in 46 BC he was made a Consul after the defeat of Pompeian forces in the east. Cicero called on Lepidus to join forces with his brother-in-law when Julius Caesar was killed in 44 BC, but he refused, and instead joined in a triumvirate with Octavian and Mark Antony. Collectively, the Triumvirs ruled all of Italy south of Lombardy, but Lepidus independently ruled the northern provinces of Africa in present-day Tunisia and Libya. At the 42 BC Battle of Philippi, Lepidus aided in the defeat of the Liberatores army and had to see his brother-in-law and his brother-in-law Gaius Cassius Longinus kill themselves. Lepidus was then ousted from power as Octavian proclaimed the Roman Empire.